


How to Crack a Heart (Without Knowing Yours Was the Hammer)

by Fives



Series: Hearts and Their Cracks (and Those who Mend Them) [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Jango Fett Open Seasons (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Break Up, Heartbreak, Jango Fett: Homewrecker, M/M, Mandalorian Courting, Mandalorian Culture (Star Wars), Miscommunication, This is really sad, does it count as a breakup if they weren't really dating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:33:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28907880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fives/pseuds/Fives
Summary: Jaster Mereel has reason to be wary of how his son acts around Obi-Wan Kenobi. He remembers the feeling of crafting a cya'kaanui with the perfect person in mind. He also remembers how much colder betrayal feels when it comes from the person you dreamed of marrying.
Relationships: Jango Fett & Jaster Mereel, Jaster Mereel/Montross
Series: Hearts and Their Cracks (and Those who Mend Them) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2120112
Comments: 7
Kudos: 82





	How to Crack a Heart (Without Knowing Yours Was the Hammer)

**Author's Note:**

> This... wasn't in the cards as of 1/2 an hour ago. Brainstorming on Discord turned into a discussion of Mando courting in the HoKaB(atCW) universe, which snowballed into "Jaster was a lib arts nerd, and probably a romantic, I bet he was always thinking of ideas for courting gifts" and them me, being me, went "Hmm, let's make this PAINFULL
> 
> And so this one-shot was born

The night Jast'ika said the Gai Bal Manda, Montross plastered a smile on his face and wished his friend well in his adventures as a Buir. But it left a bitter taste in his mouth. _**Mhi** ba'juri verde_, not _**Ni** ba'juri verde_. Maybe Montross was seeing connections where none existed. Maybe that night under the stars were all a twisted dream brought on by the alcohol. That luminous future of a _vhett_ on Concord Dawn, little feet running around, Jast'ika and him dancing in the grass under the stars. Maybe that future was all a dream brought on by his longing. It didn't matter. At least not to Jaster, judging by his new ad. His, not theirs. Montross gave another cheer to the new family ~~if he were less of a coward, he'd be up there by Jaster's side, but it wasn't _finished_ yet~~ and went back to his tent. From the bottom of his pack, he pulled out a red cape with multicoloured embroidery three-quarters of the way around. If one were close enough to make out the stitches, one would see their story woven in the Haat'ade's dialect of dadita. Montross took another swig of his _netra'gal_ and pulled the cape to his face. Months of work, dedicating himself to putting their story down, and it meant nothing to Jast'ika- to Jaster. Montross's shoulders shook with sobs for the future he ~~they~~ had dreamed under the stars. His hand shaking, he took out his lighter. In the morning, all that was left of that red cape was a pile of ashes, quickly scattered to the winds.

Jaster stared after Mont'ika in worry. Had he gotten injured in the fighting? He hadn't said anything to that effect. Jaster brushed it off, sure that his friend ~~cyare~~ would tell him in the morning. Nothing came of it. Jaster looked at his new ad's sleeping face. Oh, how he wished he could have given Jango two buire instead of one, how he wished Mont'ika could have said the Gai Bal Manda with him to welcome Jango. But what kind of Mando'ad, what kind of Mand'alor, would he be if he put off a Foundling's need in favour of his own? Mont'ika's cya'kaanui was still unfinished and would take weeks to complete. Jaster could wait. Once he was done perfecting the modifications to that rifle Mont'ika had been drooling and complaining about in equal measure, then they could move into the future. Their future dreamed up under the stars, pressed together as close a physically possible. That _vhett_ , right here, on his home planet. Little feet running around (Jango's boots now, too). And the two of them dancing together, barefoot in the long grass, under the starlight. All he had to do was finish that rifle. As the years went by, Jaster struggled more and more with finishing Mont'ika's cya'kaanui. With his duties as Mand'alor, Jango growing quickly and needing his training for his Verd'goten, Jaster was lucky if he could spend five minutes a week soldering and adjusting, updating and slicing. It was odd. It felt like Mont'ika was drifting away from him, so Jaster poured himself into completing the modifications. The day before a new contract, it was done. It was finally done. After the job, he told himself. After the job, he would give Mont'ika this rifle and ask him to fight by his side through life as well as the battlefield.

Their contract took them to Galidraan. ~~The traitor~~ Mont'ika fired on him. Jaster fought on autopilot against his ~~cyare~~ second-in-command until he flew away on his jetpack, leaving them to the Jetiise. If any of the Haat'ade knew how he felt, they said nothing. That night, when they burnt the bodies of the dead, Jaster waited until the remembrances were said, then slipped off to his tent. From the bottom of his pack, he pulled the rifle. With a shattered heart, Jaster put the cya'kaanui on the still-burning pyre.

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh, miscommunication. Don't you love it?  
> Tell me what you think!
> 
> Mando'a:  
> 'ika = affectionate diminutive (eg: Jast'ika)  
> Gai Bal Manda = Name And Soul, Mandalorian adoption vow  
> Buir = parent  
> Mhi ba'juri verde = we will raise warriors  
> Ni ba'juri verde = I will raise warriors  
> Vhett = farm  
> netra'gal = ale  
> Haat'ade = short form of Haat Mando'ade, the True Mandalorians  
> Cyare = sweetheart/darling/loved one  
> Mando'ad = Mandalorian  
> Mand'alor = Leader of the Mandalorians  
> Verd'goten = soldier-birth, coming-of-age ceremony  
> Cya'kaanui = Courting gift, made up from cyare = sweetheart, akaan = to fight, and dinui = gift (This comes from my headcanon where Mandos treat dating/marriage as someone "fighting alongside you through life")


End file.
